Under the Hala Tree: Twice Told Polynesian Myths and Legends

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Let us wish you a happy birthday! Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Month January February March April May June July August September October November December Year Please fill in a complete birthday Enter a valid birthday. Watches Casual Dress Sports. He carried the bones to Kau and placed them in his own secret family burial cave. The ghost of Wahaula went down to the spirit world in great joy. The life of the young chief had been taken for temple service and yet there had at last been nothing dishonorable connected with the destruction of the body and the passing away of the spirit.

In the upper end of the valley, at the foot of the highest mountains on the island Oahu, lived Maluae. He was a farmer, and had chosen this land because rain fell abundantly on the mountains, and the streams brought down fine soil from the decaying forests and disintegrating rocks, fertilizing his plants. Here he cultivated bananas and taro and sweet potatoes. His bananas grew rapidly by the sides of the brooks, and yielded large bunches of fruit from their tree-like stems; his taro filled small walled-in pools, growing in the water like waterlilies, until the roots were matured, when the plants were pulled up and the roots boiled and prepared for food; his sweet potatoes-a vegetable known among the ancient New Zealanders as ku-maru, and supposed to have come from Hawaii-were planted on the drier uplands.

Thus he had plenty of food continually growing, and ripening from time to time. Whenever he gathered any of his food products he brought a part to his family temple and placed it on an. He had a boy whom he dearly loved, whose name was Kaa-lii rolling chief. This boy was a careless, rollicking child. One day the boy was tired and hungry. He passed by the temple of the gods and saw bananas, ripe and sweet, on the little platform before the gods.

He took these bananas and ate them all. The gods looked down on the altar expecting to find food, but it was all gone and there was nothing for them. They were very angry, and ran out after the boy. They caught him eating the bananas, and killed him. The body they left lying under the trees, and taking out his ghost threw it into the Under-world. The father toiled hour after hour cultivating his food plants, and when wearied returned to his home. On the way he met the two gods. They told him how his boy had robbed them of their sacrifices and how they had punished him.

They said, "We have sent his ghost body to the lowest regions of the Under-world. He searched for the body of his boy, and at last found it. He saw too that the story of the gods was true, for partly eaten bananas filled the mouth, which was set in death. He carried it into his rest-house and laid it on the sleeping-mat. After a time he lay down beside the body, refusing all food, and planning to die with his boy. He thought if he could escape from his own body he would be able to go down where the ghost of his boy had been sent.

If he could find that ghost he hoped to take it to the other part of the Under-world, where they could be happy together. He placed no offerings on the altar of the gods. No prayers were chanted. The afternoon and evening passed slowly. The gods waited for their worshipper, but he came not. They looked down on the altar of sacrifice, but there was nothing for them.

The night passed and the following day. The father lay by the side of his son, neither eating nor drinking, and longing only for death. The house was tightly closed. Then the gods talked together, and Kane said: He is near the door of the Under-world. If he should die, we would be to blame. We are losing our worshipper. We in quick anger killed his.

Was this the right reward? He has called us morning and evening in his worship. He has provided fish and fruits and vegetables for our altars. He has always prepared awa from the juice of the yellow awa root for us to drink. We have not paid him well for his care. So they went to Maluae and told him they were sorry for what they had done. The father was very weak from hunger, and longing for death, and could scarcely listen to them. When Kane said, "Have you love for your child? My love is without end. Soon he was strong enough to go on his journey.

Not far from Honolulu is a beautiful modern estate with fine roads, lakes, running brooks, and interesting valleys extending back into the mountain range. This is called by the very ancient name Moanalua two lakes. Near the seacoast of this estate was one of the most noted ghost localities of the islands. The ghosts after wandering over the island Oahu would come to this place to find a way into their real home, the Under-world, or, as the Hawaiians usually called it, Po. Here was a ghostly breadfruit-tree named Lei-walo, possibly meaning "the eight wreaths" or "the eighth wreath "-the last wreath of leaves from the land of the living which would meet the eyes of the dying.

The ghosts would leap or fly or climb into the branches of this tree, trying to find a rotten branch upon which they could sit until it broke and threw them into the dark sea below. Maluae climbed up the breadfruit-tree. He found a branch upon which some ghosts were sitting waiting for it to fall. HFlis weight was so much greater than theirs that the branch broke at once, and down they all fell into the land of Po. This he had done when he climbed the tree; thus he had been able to push past the fabled guardians of the pathway of the ghosts in the Upper-world.

As he entered the Under-world he again tasted the food of the gods and he felt himself growing stronger and stronger. He took a magic war-club and a spear out of the cane given by the gods. Ghostly warriors tried to hinder his entrance into the different districts of the dark land. The spirits of dead chiefs challenged him when he passed their homes. Battle after battle was fought. His magic club struck the warriors down, and his spear tossed them aside. Sometimes he was warmly greeted and aided by ghosts of kindly spirit.

Thus he went from place to place, searching for his boy, finding him at last, as the Hawaiians quaintly expressed it, "down in the papa-ku" the established foundation of Po , choking and suffocating from the bananas of ghost-land which he was compelled to continually force into his mouth. The father caught the spirit of the boy and started back toward the Upper-world, but the ghosts surrounded him. They tried to catch him and take the spirit away from him.

Again the father partook of the food of the gods. Multitudes arose on all sides, crushing him by their overwhelming numbers. At last he raised his magic hollow cane and took the last portion of food. Then he poured out the portion of burning lava which the gods had placed inside. It fell upon the dry floor of the Under-world. The flames dashed into the trees and the shrubs of ghost-land. Fire-holes opened in the floor and streams of lava burst out. Backward fled the multitudes of spirits. The father thrust the spirit of the boy quickly into the empty magic cane and rushed swiftly up to his home-land.

He brought the spirit to the body lying in the rest-house and forced it to find again its living home. Afterward the father and the boy took food to the altars of the gods, and chanted the accustomed prayers heartily and loyally all the rest of their lives. This rock is as large as a small house. There is an interesting legend told on the island of Oahu which explains why these names have for generations been fastened to the cape and to the rock.

A long, long time ago there lived on the island Kauai a man of wonderful power, by the name of Hau-pu. When he was born, the signs of a demi-god were over and around the house of his birth. Lightning flashed through the skies, and thunder reverberated, rolling along the mountain-sides. Thunder and lightning were very rare in the Hawaiian Islands, and were supposed to be connected with the birth or death or some very unusual occurrence in the life of a chief.

Mighty floods of rain fell and poured in tor. During the storm, and even after sunshine filled the valley, a beautiful rainbow rested over the house in which the young chief was born. This rainbow was thought to come from the miraculous powers of the new-born child shining out from him instead of from the sunlight around him. Many chiefs throughout the centuries of Hawaiian legends were said to have had this rainbow around them all their lives.

Hau-pu while a child was very powerful, and after he grew up was widely known as a great warrior. He would attack and defeat armies of his enemies without aid from any person. His spear was like a mighty weapon, sometimes piercing a host of enemies, and sometimes putting aside all opposition when he thrust it into the ranks of his opponents. If he had thrown his spear and if fighting with his bare hands did not vanquish his foes, he would leap to the hillside, tear up a great tree, and with it sweep away all before him as if he were wielding a huge broom. He was known and feared throughout all the Hawaiian Islands.

He became angry quickly and used his great powersivery rashly. Between the two islands lay a broad channel about thirty miles wide. When clouds were on the face of the sea, these islands were hidden from each other; but when they lifted, the rugged valleys of the mountains on one island could be clearly seen from the other. Even by moonlight the shadowy lines would appear. This night the strong man stirred in his sleep. Indistinct noises seemed to surround his house.

He turned over and dropped off into slumber again.

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Soon he was aroused a second time, and he was awake enough to hear shouts of men far, far away. Louder rose the noise mixed with the roar of the great surf waves, so he realized that it came from the sea, and he then forced himself to rise and stumble to the door. He looked out toward Oahu. A multitude of lights were flashing on the sea before his sleepy eyes.

A low murmur of many voices came from the place where the dancing lights seemed to be. His confused thoughts made it appear to him that a great fleet of warriors was coming from Oahu to attack his people. He blindly rushed out to the edge of a high precipice which overlooked the channel. He laughed, and stooped down and tore a huge rock from its place. This he swung back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, until he gave it great impetus which added to his own miraculous power sent it far out over the sea.

Like a great cloud it rose in the heavens and, as if blown by swift winds, sped on its way. Over on the shores of Oahu a chief whose name was Kaena had called his people out for a night's fishing. Canoes large and small came from all along the coast. Torches without number had been made and placed in the canoes. The largest fish-nets had been brought. There was no need of silence. Nets had been set in the best places. Fish of all kinds were to be aroused and frightened into the nets. Flashing lights, splashing paddles, and clamor from hundreds of voices resounded all around the nets.

Gradually the canoes came nearer and nearer the centre. Great joy ruled the noise which drowned the roar of the waves. Across the channel and up the mountain-sides of Kauai swept the shouts of the fishing-party. Into the ears of drowsy Hau-pu the noise forced itself. Little dreamed the excited fishermen of the effect of this on far-away Kauai.

Smashed and submerged were the canoes when the huge boulder thrown by Hau-pu hurled itself upon them. The chief Kaena and his canoe were in the centre of this terrible mass of wreckage, and he and many of his people lost their lives. The waves swept sand upon the shore until in time a long point of land was formed.

The remaining followers of the dead chief named this cape "Kaena. To this death-dealing rock the natives gave the name "Rock of Kauai. A legend is a story with some foundation in fact. A fable tacks on a moral. A tradition is a myth or legend or fact handed down from generation to generation. The old Hawaiians were frequently mythmakers.

They imagined many a fairy-story for the different localities of the islands, and these are very interesting. The myth of the two taro plants belongs to South Kona, Hawaii, and affords an excellent illustration of Hawaiian imagination. The story is told in different ways, and came to the writer in the present form: A chief lived on the mountain-side above Hookena. There his people cultivated taro, made kapa cloth, and prepared the trunks of koa-trees for canoes. He had a very fine taro patch.

The plants prided themselves upon their rapid and perfect growth. In one part of the taro pond, side by side, grew two taro plants-finer, stronger, and more beautiful than the others. The leaf stalks bent over in more perfect curves: Mutual admiration filled the hearts of the two taro plants and resulted in pledges of undying affection. One day the chief was talking to his servants about the food to be made ready for a feast. He ordered the two especially fine taro plants to be pulled up.

One of the servants came to the home of the two lovers and told them that they were to be taken by the chief. Because of their great affection for each other they determined to cling to life as long as possible, and therefore moved to another part of the taro patch, leaving their neighbors to be pulled up instead of themselves. But the chief soon saw them in their new home and again ordered their destruction.

This happened from time to time until the angry chief determined that they should be taken, no matter what part of the pond they might be in.

Under the Hala Tree: Twice Told Polynesian Myths Ad Legends - Lowell Uda - Google Книги

The two taro plants thought best to flee, therefore took to themselves wings and made a short flight to a neighboring taro patch. Here again their enemy found them. A second flight was made to another part of South Kona, and then to still another, until all Kona was interested in the perpetual pursuit and the perpetual escape. At last there was no part of Kona in which they could be concealed.

A friend of the. At last they leaped into the air and flew on and on until they were utterly weary and fell into a taro patch near Waiohinu. But their chief had ordered the imu cooking-place to be made ready for them, and had hastened along the way on foot, trying to capture them if at any time they should try to light. However, their wings moved more swiftly than his feet, so they had a little rest before he came near to their new home.

Then again they lifted themselves into the sky. Favoring winds carried them along and they flew a great distance away from South Kona into the neighboring district of Kau. Here they found a new home under a kindly chief. Here they settled down and lived many years under the name of Kaloeke-eke, or "The Timid Taro. It is possible that this beautiful little story may have grown out of the ancient Hawaiian unwritten law which sometimes permitted the subjects of a chief to move away from their home and transfer their allegiance to some neighboring ruler.

The koa is probably the best of the trees of this class. It is known as the Hawaiian mahogany. The grain is very fine and curly and wavy, and is capable of a very high polish. The koa still grows luxuriantly on the steep sides and along the ridges of the high mountains of all the islands of the Hawaiian group. It has great powers of endurance. It is not easily worn by the pebbles and sand of the beach, nor is it readily split or broken by the tempestuous waves of the ocean, therefore from time immemorial the koa has been the tree for the canoe and surf-board of the Hawaiians.

Long and large have been the canoes hewn from the massive tree trunks by the aid of the kohi-pohaku, the cutting stone, or adze, of ancient Hawaii. Sometimes these canoes were given miraculous powers of motion so that they swept through the seas more rapidly than the swiftest shark. Often the god of the winds, who had especial care. There is a delightful little story about a chief who visited the most northerly island, Kauai. Sports and games innumerable were enjoyed. Thus day and night passed until, as the morning of a new day dawned, an unwonted stir along the beach made manifest some event of very great importance.

The new chief apparently cared but little for all the excitement. The king of the island had sent one of his royal ornaments to a small island some miles distant from the EKauai shores. He was blessed with a daughter so beautiful that all the available chiefs desired her for wife. The father, hoping to avoid the complications which threatened to involve his household with the households of the jealous suitors, announced that he would give his daughter to the man who secured the ornament from the far-away island.

It was to be a canoe race with a wife for the prize. The young chiefs waited for the hour appointed. Their well-polished koa canoes lined the beach. The stranger chief made no preparation. Laughingly he requested permission to join in the contest, receiving as the reward for his request a look of approbation from the handsome chiefess. The word was given. The well-manned canoes were pushed from the shore and forced out through the inrolling surf.

In the rush some of the boats were interlocked with others, some filled with water, while others safely broke away from the rest and passed out of sight toward the coveted island. Still the stranger seemed to be in no haste to win the prize. The face of the chiefess grew dark with disappointment.

At last the stranger launched his finely polished canoe and called one of his followers to sail with him. It seemed to be utterly impossible for him to even dream of securing the prize, but the canoe began to move as if it had the wings of a swift bird or the fins of fleetest fish. He had taken for his companion in his magic canoe one of the gods controlling the ocean winds. He was first to reach the island.

Then he came swiftly back for his bride. He made his home among his new friends. The Hawaiians had many interesting ceremonies in connection with the process of securing the tree and fashioning it into a canoe. David Malo, a Hawaiian writer of about the. If in his sleep he had a vision of some one standing naked before him, he knew that the koa-tree was rotten, and would not go up into the woods to cut that tree.

If another tree was found and he dreamed of a handsome well-dressed man or woman standing before him, when he awoke he felt sure that the tree would make a good canoe. Preparations were made accordingly to go into the mountains and hew the koa into a canoe. They took with them as offerings a pig, cocoanuts, red fish, and awa. Having come to the place they rested for the night, sacrificing these things to the gods. Sometimes, when a royal canoe was to be prepared, it seems as if human beings were also brought and slain at the root of the tree.

There is no record of cannibalism connected with these sacrifices, and yet when the pig and fish had been offered before the tree, usually a hole was dug close to the tree and an oven prepared in which the meat and vegetables were cooked for the morning feast of the canoe-makers. The tree was carefully examined and the signs and por. The song of a little bird would frequently cause an entire change in the enterprise.

When the time came to cut down the tree the priest would take his stone axe and offer prayer to the male and female deities who were supposed to be the special patrons of canoebuilding, showing them the axe, and saying: This is the axe which is to cut down the tree for the canoe. When the tree had fallen, the head priest mounted the trunk and called out, 'Smite with the axe, and hollow the canoe. Emerson gives the following as one of the prayers sometimes used by the priest when passing along the trunk of the tree: When they were ready for the.

When completed, pig and fish and fruits were again offered to the gods. Sometimes human beings were again a part of the sacrifice. Prayers and incantations were part of the ceremony. There was to be no disturbance or noise, or else it would be dangerous for its owner to go out in his new canoe. If all the people except the priest had been quiet, the canoe was pronounced safe. It is said that the ceremony of lashing the outrigger to the canoe was of very great solemnity, probably because the ability to pass through the high surf waves depended so much upon the outrigger as a balance which kept the canoe from being overturned.

The story of Laka and the fairies is told to illustrate the difficulties surrounding canoemaking. Laka desired to make a fine canoe, and sought through the forests for the best tree available. Taking his stone axe he toiled all day until the tree was felled. Then he went home. On the morrow he could not find the log. The trees of the forest had been apparently undisturbed. Again he cut a tree, and once more could not find the log.

At last he cut a tree and watched in the night. Then he saw in the night shadows a host of the little people who toil with miraculous powers to support them.

They raised the tree and set it in its place and restored it to its wonted appearance among its fellows. But Laka caught the king of the gnomes and from him learned how to gain the aid rather than the opposition of the little people. By their help his canoe was taken to the shore and fashioned into beautiful shape for wonderful and successful voyages. Precipices around it, The sea on one side; The precipices are hard to climb; Not to be climbed Are the sea precipices. Their parents were the precipices which were sheer to the sea, and could only be passed by boats.

They married, and Kaholo conceived. The husband said, "If a boy is born, I will name it; if a girl, you give the name. Pokahi's husband was Kaukini, a bird-catcher. He went out into the forest for some birds. Soon he came back and prepared them for cooking. Hot stones were put inside the birds and the birds were packed in calabashes, carefully covered over with wet leaves, which made steam inside so the birds were well cooked. Then they were brought to Kaholo for a feast.

Pokahi wanted some sea-moss and some shell-fish, so she told the two men to go on while she secured these things to take to Kaholo. She gathered the soft lipoa moss and went up to the waterfall, to Ulu Kaholo's home. The baby was born, wrapped in the moss and thrown into the sea, making a shapeless bundle, but a kupua sorcerer saw that a child was there. The child was taken and washed clean in the soft lipoa, and cared for. All around were the signs of the birth of a chief. They named him Hiilawe, and from him the Waipio waterfall has its name, according to the saying, "Falling into mist is the water of Hiilawe.

Hina-ulu-ohia Hina-the-growingohia-tree was the sorcerer who took the child in the lipoa moss. She was the aumakua, or ancestor goddess, of the boat-builders. Pokahi dreamed that a beautiful woman appeared, her body covered with the leaves of koa-trees. I will now give you one. Awake, and go to the Waipio River; watch thirty days, then you will find a girl wrapped in soft moss.

I will show you how to care for it. Your brother and his wife must not know. Your husband alone may know about this adopted girl. She wished to take it up, but was held back by magic powers. She saw an ohia-tree rising up from the water, — branches, leaves, and flowers,-and iiwi birds coming to pick the flowers. The red birds and red flowers were very beautiful. This tree was Hina. The birds began to sing, and quietly the tree sank down into the water and disappeared, tie birds flying away to the west. Pokahi returned to her brother's house, going down to the sea every day, where she saw the human form of the child growing in the shelter of that red mist on the surface of the sea.

At the end of the thirty days Pokahi told her friends arid her husband that they must go back home. On their way they went to the river. She told her husband to look at the red mist, but he wanted to hurry on. As they approached their hcuse, cooking-odors welcomed them, and they found plenty of food prepared outside. They saw something moving inside. The trees seemed to be walking as if with the feet of men. Kaukini prepared a lamp, and Pokahi in a vision saw the same fine tree which she had seen before.

There was also a hala-tree with its beautiful yellow blossoms. As they looked they saw leaves of different kinds falling one after another, making in one place a soft fragrant bed. Then a woman and a man came with an infant. They were the god Ku and Hina his wife. They said to Pokahi and her husband, "We have accepted your sacrifices and have seen that you are childless, so now we have brought you this child to adopt. She was well cared for and grew up into a beautiful woman without fault or blemish.

Her companions and servants were the birds and the flowers. Lau-ka-pali leaf of the precipice was one of her friends. One day she made whistles of ti leaves, and blew them. The Leaf-of-theMorning-Glory saw that the young chiefess liked this, so she went out and found Pupu-kani-oi the singing land-shell , whose home was on the leaves of the forest trees.

Then she found another Pupu-hina-hina-ula shell beautiful, with rainbow colors. In the night the shells sang, and their. Nohu-ua-palai a fern , one of the old residents of that place, went out into the forest, and, hearing the voices of the girl and the shells, came to the house. She chanted her name, but there was no reply. At last, Pua-ohelo the blossom of the ohelo , one of the flowers in the house, heard, and opening the door, invited her to come in and eat. Nohu-ua-palai went in and feasted with the girls.

Lau-ka-ieie dreamed about Kawelona the setting of the sun , at Lihue, a fine young man, the first-born of one of the high chiefs of Kauai. She told her kahu guardian all about her dream and the distant island. The kahu asked who should go to find the man of the dreams.

All the girl friends wanted to go. She told them to raise their hands and the one who had the longest fingers could go. This was Pupu-kani-oi the singing shell. The leaf family all sobbed as they bade farewell to the shell. Oh, my shell-sisters of the blue sea, come to the beach, to the sand! Come and show me the path I am to go! Oh, Pupumoka-lau [the land-shell clinging to the moka. Call all the shells to aid me in my journey! They journeyed all around the island of Hawaii to find some man who would be like the man of the dream.

They found no one there nor on any of the other islands up to Oahu, where the Singing Shell fell in love with a chief and turned from her journey, but Makanikau went on to Kauai. Ma-eli-eli, the dragon woman of Heeia, tried to persuade him to stop, but on he went. She ran after him. Limaloa, the dragon of Laiewai, also tried to catch Makani-kau, but he was too swift. On the way to Kauai, Makani-kau saw some people in a boat chased by a big shark. He leaped on the boat and told them he would play with the shark and they could stay near but need not fear.

Then he jumped into the sea. The shark turned over and opened its mouth to seize him; he climbed on it, caught its fins, and forced it to flee through the water. He drove it to the shore and made it fast among the rocks. It became a great shark stone, Koa-mano warrior shark , at Haena. He leaped from the shark to land, the boat following. He saw the hill of "Fire-Throwing," a place. He leaped to the top of the hill in his shadow body.

Far up on the hill was a vast number of iiwi 'irds. Makani-kau went to them as they were flying toward Lehua. They only felt the force of the winds, for they could not see him or his real body. He saw that the birds were carrying a fine man as he drew near. This was the one Lau-ka-ieie desired for her husband. They carried this boy on their wings easily and gently over the hills and sea toward the sunset island, Lehua. There they slowly flew to earth. They were the bird guardians of Kawelona, and when they travelled from place to place they were under the direction of the bird-sorcerer, Kukala-a-ka-manu.

Kawelona had dreamed of a beautiful girl who had visited him again and again, so he was prepared to meet Makani-kau. He told his parents and adopted guardians and bird-priests about his dreams and the beautiful girl he wanted to marry. Makani-kau met the winds of Niihau and Lehua, and at last was welcomed by the birds.

He told Kawelona his mission, who prepared to gc to Hawaii, asking how they should go. Makani-kau went to the seaside and called for his many bodies to come and give him the boat for. Thus he made known his mana, or spirit power, to Kawelona. He called on the great cloud-gods to send the long white cloud-boat, and it soon appeared. Kawelona entered the boat with fear, and in a few minutes lost sight of the island of Lehua and his bird guardians as he sailed out into the sea.

Makani-kau dropped down by the side of a beautiful shell-boat, entered it, and stopped at Mana. There he took several girls and put them in a double canoe, or au-waa-olalua spirit-boat. Meanwhile the sorcerer ruler of the birds agreed to find out where Kawelona was to satisfy the longing of his parents, whom he had left without showing them where he was going or what dangers he might meet. The sorcerer poured water into a calabash and threw in two lehua flowers, which floated on the water. Then he turned his eyes toward the sun and prayed: Look upon the beautiful young woman. She is not one from Kauai.

There Is no one more beautiful than she. Her home is under the glowing East, and a royal rainbow is around her. There are beautiful girls attending her. In the signs he saw the boy in the cloud-boat, Makani-kau in his shell-boat, and the three girls in the spirit-boat. The girls were carried to Oahu, and there found the shell-girl, Pupu-kani-oi, left by Makani-kau on his way to Lehua. They took her with her husband and his sisters in the spiritboat.

There were nine in the company of travellers to Hawaii: Kawelona in his cloudboat; two girls from Kauai; Kaiahe, a girl from Oahu; three from Molokai, one from Maui; and a girl called Lihau. Makani-kau himself was the leader; he had taken the girls away. On this journey he turned their boats to Kahoolawe to visit Ka-moho-alii, the ruler of the sharks. There Makani-kau appeared in his finest human body, and they all landed.

Makani-kau took Kawelona from his cloud-boat, went inland, and placed him in the midst of the company, telling them he was the husband for Lau-ka-ieie. They were all made welcome by the ruler of the sharks. Ka-moho-alii called his sharks to bring food frcm all the islands over which they were placed as guardians; so they quickly brought prepared food, fish, flowers, leis, and gifts of all kinds. Then Kamoho-alii called his sharks to guard the travellers on their journey. Makani-kau went in his shellboat, Kawelona in his cloud-boat, and they were all carried over the sea until they landed under the mountains of Hawaii.

Makani-kau, in his wind body, carried the boats swiftly on their journey to Waipio. Lau-ka-ieie heard her brother's voice calling her from the sea. Makani-kau and Kawelona went up to Waimea to cross over to Lauka-ieie's house, but were taken by Hina to the top of Mauna Kea. Poliahu and Lilinoe saw the two fine young men and called to them, but Makani-kau passed by, without a word, to his own wonderful home in the caves of the mountains resting in the heart of mists and fogs, and placed all his travellers there.

Makani-kau went down to the sea and called the sharks of Kamoho-alii. They appeared in their human bodies in the valley of Waipio, leaving their shark bodies resting quietly in the sea. They feasted and danced near the ancient temple of Kahuku-welowelo, which was the place where the wonderful shell, Kiha-pu, was kept. Makani-kau put seven shells on the top of the precipice and they blew until sweet sounds floated over all the land. Thus was the marriage of Lau-ka-ieie and Kawelona celebrated. After the wedding they bade farewell and returned to Kahoolawe, going around the southern side of the island, for it was counted bad luck to turn back.

They must go straight ahead all the way home. Makani-kau went to his sister's house, and met the girls and Lau-kaieie. He told her that his house was full of strangers, as the people of the different kupua bodies had assembled to celebrate the wedding. These were the kupua people of the Hawaiian Islands.

The eepa people were more like fairies and gnomes, and were usually somewhat deformed. The kupuas may be classified as follows: Ka-poe-kino-lau the people who had leaf bodies.. After the marriage, Pupu-kani-oi the singing shell and her husband entered the shell-boat, and started back to Molokai. On their way they.

Makani-kau had a feather house covered with rainbow colors. Later he went to Kauai, and brought back the adopted parents of Kawelona to dwell on Hawaii, where Lau-ka-ieie lived happily with her husband. Hiilawe became very ill, and called his brother Makani-kau and his sister Lau-ka-ieie to come near and listen.

He told them that he was going to die, and they must bury him where he could always see the eyes of the people, and then he would change his body into a wonderful new body. The beautiful girl took his malo and leis and placed them along the sides of the valley, where they became beautiful trees and vines, and Hina made him live again; so Hiilawe became an aumakua of the waterfalls.

Makani-kau took the body in his hands and carried it in the thunder and lightning, burying it on the brow of the highest precipice of the valley. Then his body was changed into a stone, which has been lying there for centuries; but his ghost was made by Hina into a kupua, so that he could always appear as the wonderful misty falls of Waipio, looking into the eyes of his people. After many years had passed Hina assumed permanently the shape of the beautiful ohia-tree, making her home in the forest around the volcanoes of Hawaii.

She still had magic power,. Makani-kau watched over Lau-ka-ieie, and when the time came for her to lay aside her human body she came to him as a slender, graceful woman, covered with leaves, her eyes 'blazing like fire. I will carry you into the forest and place you by the side of Hina. You are the ieie vine. Twine your long leaves around them! Let your blazing red flowers shine between the leaves like eyes of fire!

Give your beauty to all the ohia-trees of the forest! Makani-kau in his spirit form blew the golden clouds of the islands into the light of the sun, so that the Rainbow Maiden, Anuenue, might lend her garments to all her friends of the ancient days. The better way is to take the legend as revealing the great man-eater in one of his most kindly aspects. The shark-god appears as the friend of a priest who is seeking revenge for the destruction of his children.

Kamalo was the name of the priest. His heiau, or temple, was at Kaluaaha, a village which faced the channel between the islands of Molokai and Maui. Across the channel the rugged red-brown slopes of the mountain Eeke were lost in the masses of clouds which continually hung around its sharp peaks. The two boys of the priest delighted in the glorious revelations of sunrise and sunset tossed in shattered fragments of cloud color, and revelled in the reflected tints which danced to them over the swift channel-currents. It is no wonder that the courage of sky and sea entered into the hearts.

They were taught many of the secrets of the temple by their father, but were warned that certain things were sacred to the gods and must not be touched. The high chief, or alii, of that part of the island had a temple a short distance from Kaluaaha, in the valley of the harbor which was called Aikanaka. The name of this chief was Kupa. The chiefs always had a house built within the temple walls as their own residence, to which they could retire at certain seasons of the year. Kupa had two remarkable drums which he kept in his house at the heiau.

His skill in beating his drums was so great that they could reveal his thoughts to the waiting priests. One day Kupa sailed far away over the sea to his favorite fishing-grounds. Meanwhile the boys were tempted to go to Kupa's heiau and try the wonderful drums.

The valley of the little harbor Aikanaka bore the musical name Mapulehu. Along the beach and over the ridge hastened the two sons of Kamalo. Quickly they entered the heiau, found the high chief's house, took out his drums and began to beat upon them. Some of the people heard the familiar tones of the drums. They dared not enter the sacred Coors of the heiau, but watched until the boys became weary of their sport and returned home. Kupa was very angry, and ordered his mu, or temple sacrifice seekers, to kill the boys and bring their bodies to the heiau to be placed on the altar.

When the priest Kamalo heard of the death of his sons, in bitterness of heart he sought revenge. His own power was not great enough to cope with his high chief; therefore he sought the aid of the seers and prophets of highest repute throughout Molokai. But they feared Kupa the chief, and could not aid him, and therefore sent him on to another kaula, or prophet, or sent him back to consult some one the other side of his home. All this time he carried with him fitting presents and sacrifices, by which he hoped to gain the assistance of the gods through their priests.

At last he came to the steep precipice which overlooks Kalaupapa and Kalawao, the present home of the lepers. At the foot of this precipice was a heiau, in which the great shark-god was worshipped. Down the sides of the precipice he climbed and at last found the priest of the shark-god. The priest refused to give assistance, but directed him to go to a great cave in the bold cliffs south of Kalawao.

The name of the cave was Anaopuhi, the cave of the eel.

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Here dwelt the great shark-god Kauhuhu and his guardians or watchers, Waka and Mo-o, the great dragons or reptiles. These dragons were mighty warriors in the defence of the shark-god, and were his kahus, or caretakers, while he slept, or when his cave needed watching during his absence. Kamalo, tired and discouraged, plodded along through the rough lava fragments piled around the entrance to the cave. He bore across his shoulders a black pig, which he had carried many miles as an offering to whatever power he could find to aid him.

As he came near to the cave the watchmen saw him and said: It is death to you. Here's the tabu place. Give me revenge for my sons-and I have no care for myself. Then he narrated the story of his wanderings all over Molokai, seeking for some power strong enough to overcome Kupa.

At last he had come to the shark-god-as the final possibility of aid. If Kauhuhu failed him, he was ready to die; indeed he had no wish to live. The mo-o assured him of. There would have been not even an instant for explanations. Yet they ran a very great risk in aiding him, for they must conceal him until the way was opened by the favors of the great gods. If he should be discovered and eaten before gaining the aid of the shark-god, they, too, must die with him.

They decided that they would hide him in the rubbish pile of taro peelings which had been thrown on one side when they had pounded taro. Here he must lie in perfect silence until the way was made plain for him to act. They told him to watch for the coming of eight great surf waves rolling in from the sea, and then wait from his place of concealment for some opportunity to speak to the god because he would come in the last great wave. Soon the surf began to roll in and break against the cliffs.

Higher and higher rose the waves until the eighth reared far above the waters and met the winds from the shore which whipped the curling crest into a shower of spray. It raced along the water and beat far up into the cave, breaking into foam, out of which the shark-god emerged. At once he took his human form and. As he passed the rubbish heap he cried out: If I find him, dead men you are. If I find him not, you shall live. He called with a loud voice, but only the echoes answered, like the voices of ghosts. After a thorough search he was turning away to attend tc other matters when Kamalo's pig squealed.

Then the giant shark-god leaped to the pile of taro leavings and thrust them apart. There lay Kamalo and the black pig which had been brought for sacrifice. Oh, the anger of the god! Oh, the blazing eyes! Kauhuhu instantly caught Kamalo and lifted him from the rubbish up toward his great mouth. Now the head and shoulders are in Kauhuhu's mouth.

So quickly has this been done that Kamalo has had no time to think. Kamalo speaks quickly as the teeth are coming down upon him. Then perhaps eat me. He takes Kamalo from his mouth and says: Perhaps you have a. Sure now was he that Kauhuhu alone could give him aid. Pity came to the shark-god as it had come to his dragon watchers when they saw the sad condition of Kamalo. All this time Kamalo had held the hog which he had carried with him for sacrifice. This he now offered to the shark-god. Kauhuhu, pleased and compassionate, accepted the offering, and said: If you had come for any other purpose I would eat you, but your cause is sacred.

I will stand as your kahu, your guardian, and sorely punish the high chief Kupa. They were to build a tabu fence around the heiau and put up the sacred tabu staffs of white tapa cloth. They must collect black pigs by the four hundred, red fish by the four hundred, and white chickens by the four hundred. Then they were to wait patiently for the coming of Kauhuhu. It was to be a strange coming.

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On the island Lanai, far. Then that cloud shall cross the channel against the wind and climb the mountains of Molokai until it rests on the highest peaks over the valley where Kupa has his temple. I shall be in the care of that rainbow, and you may clearly understand that I am there and will speedily punish the man who has injured you. Remember that because you came to me for this sacred cause, therefore I have spared you, the only man who has ever stood in the presence of the shark-god and escaped alive.

Gladly did he carry him up from Kalaupapa to the mountain-ridge above. Gladly did he carry him to his home and there provide for him while he gathered together the black pigs, the red fish, and the white chickens within the sacred enclosure he had built. Here he brought his family, those who had the nearest and strongest claims upon him. When his work was done, his eyes burned with watching the clouds of the little western island Lanai. Ah, the days passed by so slowly!

The weeks and the months came, so the legends say, and still Kamalo waited in patience. At last one day.

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It was unlike all the other white clouds he had anxiously watched during the dreary months. Over the channel it came. It spread over the hillsides and climbed the mountains and rested at the head of the valley belonging to Kupa. Then the watchers saw the glorious rainbow and knew that Kauhuhu had come according to his word. The storm arose at the head of the valley. The winds struggled into a furious gale. The clouds gathered in heavy black masses, dark as midnight, and were pierced through with terrific flashes of lightning.

The rain fell in floods, sweeping the hillside down into the valley, and rolling all that was below onward in a resistless mass toward the ocean. Down came the torrent upon the heiau belonging to Kupa, tearing its walls into fragments and washing Kupa and his people into the harbor at the mouth of the valley.

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Here the shark-god had gathered his people. Sharks filled the bay and feasted upon Kupa and his followers until the waters ran red and all were destroyed. Hence came the legendary name for that little harbor-Aikanaka, the place for maneaters. It is said in the legends that "when great clouds gather on the mountains and a rainbow spans the valley, look out for furious storms of wind and rain which come suddenly, sweeping down the.

Therefcre Kamalo and his people were spared. The legend has been called "Aikanaka " because of the feast of the sharks on the human flesh swept down into that harbor by the storm, but it seems more fitting to name the story after the shark-god Kauhuhu, who sent mighty storms and wrought great destruction. It is now, as it has always been, very difficult of 'access.

The walls are a sheer descent of over a thousand feet. In ancient times a narrow path slanted along the face of the bluffs wherever foothold could be found. In these later days the path has been enlarged, and horse and rider can descend into the valley's depths. In the upper end of the valley is a long silver ribbon of water falling fifteen hundred feet from the brow of a precipice over which a mountain torrent swiftly hurls itself to the fertile valley below.

Other falls show the convergence of other mountain streams to the ocean outlet offered by the broad plains of Waipio. Here in the long ago high chiefs dwelt and sacred temples were built. In this valley dwelt the priest who in the times of Maui was said to have the winds of heaven concealed in his calabash. Raising the cover a little,. Severe storms and hurricanes were granted by swiftly opening the cover widely and letting a chaotic mass of fierce winds escape.

The stories of magical powers of bird and fish as well as of the strange deeds of powerful men are almost innumerable. Not the least of the history-myths cf Waipio Valley is the story of Nanaue, the sharkman, who was one of the cannibals of the ancient time. Ka-moho-alii was the king of all the sharks which frequent Hawaiian waters.